What's with Marvel's new 2099 titles? They're so weird. Daredevil 2099 is about some guy who dresses up as some sort of mecha-Daredevil, without any of Matt's actual abilities. I mean...what's the point?

Although the new official guide looked really useful. Relatively complete histories of the important characters, as far as I could tell. I had no idea Elektra had been introduced as recently as 1981. Also didn't know Karen Page was Matt's original girlfriend, which makes Kevin Smith's run particularly significant.

I mean...what's the point?

It's to separate you from more of your money.

Why 2099?

Fifth week event to keep their publishing volume up, something to do to test/entice Robert Kirkman a rising star among writers and to test the waters about a possible return of their 2099 line a mid 90s experiment.

This 2099 line appears to share only its name with the one that Marvel tried ten years ago (and which I followed pretty religiously for while until I realized the plots weren't that good).

I got to see Part Two of the X-Men I hadn't seen today. Fun time-travel mayhem. But, really, I have to say something:

YOU CAN'T SEE VIRUSES AND ANTIBODIES WITH A FUCKING MICROSCOPE.

That's all.

Maybe it was a scanning electron microscope?

Maybe it was a scanning electron microscope?

No, it wasn't. It was a light microscope. Which is what all microscopes look like on TV. SEMs look nothing like light microscopes. And besides, you don't look in an SEM, the computer does.

Also, there was the part where Beast could actually look in the microscope and watch the virus enter and infect cells in a matter of seconds. I must have been really young and stupid when I first watched this show. It's still good, but man. My disbelief must have been locked up in a coffin at the bottom of the ocean.

Maybe it was a scanning electron microscope?

It was a mutant telescope...

This week I got Carnet de Voyage, the new book by Craig Thompson. It's basically a sketchbook diary of his travels in Europe and Morocco.

I really liked it. It's really authentic and heartfelt, and the artwork is gorgeous, especially considering that it's just a sketchbook, and part way along the trip he lost his art supplies, and some of the drawings are in ballpoint pen.

I read his first GN, Goodbye Chunky Rice, but I passed on his second book, Blankets, mostly because I was intimidated by its size (600 pages). I'm going to have to go back and read it now.

It was a light microscope.

Pffft. It was a television microscope. They're extra special. Television microscopes can even be used to determine molecular stuctures.